How Does Working Memory Capacity Influence Soccer Tactical Decision Making

Soccer is a complex sport that requires players to make quick and precise decisions in a fast paced environment. When playing this sport, players must be able to interpret information during the game such as predicting future actions of their teammates and opponents through tactical decision making. Tactical decision making is an essential skill for any soccer player at all levels of expertise. Research suggests that working memory capacity (WMC) is a crucial cognitive component that effects soccer tactical decision making. This article looks at how the role of working memory capacity influences soccer tactical decision making at different levels of expertise. Working memory capacity refers to the ability to temporarily store or exploit information

For example, a study by Memmert and Furley (2007) found that amateur soccer players with higher WMC exhibited better performance in a tactical decision making task that required them to anticipate and react to different game situations. Similarly, another study by Huijgen et al. (2019) showed that amateur soccer players with higher WMC demonstrated superior performance in a task that required them to make decisions under time pressure and with limited visual information. These findings suggest that WMC is an important cognitive factor that can influence tactical decision making even at the amateur

The findings from these studies are mixed and suggest that the relationship between WMC and soccer tactical decision making may be influenced by other factors, such as age, experience, and task complexity. For instance, a study by Roca et al. (2018) found that WMC positively predicted tactical decision making performance among youth academy soccer players, but only in tasks with higher cognitive demands. In contrast, another study by Schorer et al. (2011) showed that WMC did not significantly predict tactical decision making performance among semi-professional soccer players. These findings highlight the complexity of the relationship between WMC and soccer tactical decision making at intermediate expertise levels and suggest that other factors may also be at